Russia smashes records with historic gold reserve growth

Russia’s gold reserves surged past the $400 billion threshold in January 2026, Russian media reports, citing data from the Central Bank.

Investments in the precious metal rose by 23.3 percent at the start of the year, pushing total gold reserves to a record $402.7 billion. This growth also boosted the share of gold within Russia’s reserves from 43.3 percent to 48.3 percent—the highest proportion since January 1995, when gold made up 54.8 percent of total reserves.

Meanwhile, Russia’s total international reserves reached a new historic peak of $826.8 billion by the end of January. Over the course of a single week, reserves increased by $39.9 billion, equivalent to 3.023 trillion rubles at the Central Bank’s official exchange rate. The 5.1 percent rise was largely attributed to positive revaluation, the regulator noted.

By Vafa Guliyeva